There will be several times throughout your child's napping career when a nap is disrupted because a new skill is being learned. This can be frustrating for the parent, but there is little you can do. Baby/Toddler has a new skill and wants to practice, practice, practice! You can find this occurring in the early months with rolling, and even in early years with things like talking. Sometimes, my son will just sit and talk to himself. Here are some thoughts on getting through these situations as quickly and painlessly as possible.

The disruption (rolling, sitting, etc.) will pass, but the question is when. The baby needs to physically be able to get himself back into the preferred sleeping position. So the question is do you continue to do it for him or require him to learn to do it? Fortunately, I only experienced this with Brayden when he learned to pull himself to standing in the crib. He could get up but couldn't get down by himself. This seemed to only affect naps, not nighttime. He would start to cry because he couldn't get back down. I worked with him when he was awake to help him figure out how to get down on his own, and then there were two days of naps where I went in and helped him sit back down. It didn't take him long to learn and then he was fine. So, if baby is physically capable of getting back into position on his own, you might want to let him work it out. Otherwise he might start to enjoy your visits :). But I would be sure this is something he is capable of and that it is something he can do without much effort or he might get too worked up to get there and never fall asleep.

I have experienced this situation with Kaitlyn several times already. She wants to roll and roll, she wants to try to crawl around, she wants to try to sit up...I am sure there are only more adventures ahead of us. To get through it quickly, practice, practice, practice! Take time during waketimes to work on the skill with your baby. Do it on the floor and in the crib. Help her get the practice in during waketime so hopefully she won't insist on it as much at nap time. Once she is capable, it won't be such a novelty.

There is a problem with them practicing and then falling asleep late. She works on it, then she is overly tired and waking up early from her nap because of it. In this case you just need to accept the fact that it is happening. Do the oh well thing and move on with the day. Pay special attention to sleep cues so your baby doesn't get overly tired before the next nap.

As your baby gets older and you know she can comprehend your language, you can go in and lay her down and tell her it is nap time and not playtime and to go to sleep. This might not work for all children, but it will for some.

It won't last forever, but it is sure to repeat itself in another form! Just keep working on it and be patient. It shall pass. Reader Questions

Susanna said...Valerie-Not sure where to post this. My 16 week old has recently learned how to roll over; he's not that proficient at it but seems to do best going from back to tummy but has difficulty with going back. He's now rolling over in the crib at night despite being swaddled. (During naps, he's swaddled but also has an extra blanket on top to keep him from waking up) WOuld you go in and flip him back onto his back?? I don't know what to do about it. Should I unswaddle so that he has hands to help him roll back onto his back? Also, do you have any tips on practicing rolling during waketime? Seems like he's most interested in rolling when it's naptime. Thank you!!May 12, 2008 9:36 AM Plowmanators said...Well, you will have to decide whether or not to flip him. I tend to wait a few minutes to see what happens and give them a chance to work it out. Then if they don't figure it out, you then decide what you want/need to do. If they don't learn to do it themselves, then it is likely time to leave them to themselves. I think I would unswaddle for a safety issue. He won't really be able to flip himself back over if he is swaddled. To practice rolling, I just put them on their tummy a lot during waketime. You might put him on a bed (supervised) because he might like to practice there since it is softer.May 12, 2008 9:13 PM

80 comments:

Hi! I am having this issue right now! My son is 5 months and just started rolling back to tummy. He has rolled a couple of times tummy to back, but has not quite mastered it yet. Lastnight I went to check on him at 10pm and he was fast asleep on his tummy. He has never slept on his tummy, so I was nervous about it and decided to flip him over onto his back. Well, I ended up going in 6 times lastnight to flip him over! He was crying and couldn't get himself onto his back. I think if I had left him asleep on his tummy he would have slept soundly through the night, but by me turning him over I disrupted his sleep and then he was restless all night. What should I do? How long does this disruption typically last? Thanks so much for your help and dedication to us sleep deprived and crazed moms!!!

Hi, I also am having this issue! He's three months old now and we were doing so good with his schedule. He finally slept through the night but last week he started rolling onto his back. He always has slept on his stomach. Well, he will not sleep on his back! I've left him to CIO on his back several times and he's still awake by the time the next feeding comes. Right now he's been awake for four and a half hours and nothing I try can get him to sleep. Now this has also disrupted his sleeping in the night. We're several days off schedule now and I dont' know how to get him back on it because he won't sleep. I feel like I'm back to the way I started before we did BW but I dont' know how to get back on it! Any advice would be great!

My pediatrician says that once they learn to roll over, not to worry about turning them to their backs for SIDS purposes. Besides, by the time they are 5 months, the worst risk time is over. I, like Nicky farmer have always put my kids on their tummies b/c they refuse anything else and they sleep better. I always make sure to have them in 100% cotton so they do not overheat. I too have a 3 month old who is rolling over constantly during naps. I go in when he rolls over and either start his routine over to get him so calm that he is too tired to roll over. Or (I know this sounds crazy), but I hold down his little tush while he wants to roll. If I do not make sure he falls asleep on his tum, he wakes up crying soon, or he just never falls asleep.

Sorry, I didn't realize this comment was here. Once your little one can roll on his own, you shouldn't need to flip him. Work with him in the day, but he should be fine sleeping that way. At this point, you are most likely over that now, though.

It sounds like you are going to have to do CIO. I would take note of the ideas in this post and practice practice. I think it is usually harder for a tummy sleeper to learn to sleep on the back than a back sleeper to sleep on the tummy. It will take some time, but he will either learn to sleep on his back or learn to roll over. Good luck!

Thank you so much for your blog. I find myself using your posts quite often along with the Babywise books. My 8 1/2 month old just realized that she can stand in her crib. I knew the day would get here, but I also was dreading it too. Just last week she realized she could sit herself right back up after I laid her down. After one day of sleeping slumped over while sitting up, she learned to lay herself back down. Now today she stood, sat, babbled, laid, cried, rolled around for nearly and hour and a half after I put her down for her regular nap. I went in once to remind her that it was nap time, laid her back down, turned her music back on, and left. Needless to say, she was standing right back up when I left. I guess I just don't want her to become dependent on my to get her back down after she stands up (she can get herself back down somehow because I could see in the monitor). I'm also not looking foward to hearing her standing up in the middle of the night. Also after getting herself to sleep today , she only slept about thirty minutes (usually naps are an hour or longer). I guess I just need to hear that this will pass. Thanks! :)

First - thank you so much for your blog!! It helps so much. We just started having this issue today. My 5 month old has figured out how to roll tummy to back, but not back to tummy. He sleeps on his back at night; tummy for naps. Now, he is waking 45 min into his nap because he has rolled himself from tummy to back and is now crying.My question - do I go back in and roll him back over to his tummy? Or do I let him cry? If he won't go back to sleep, should I get him up? It definitely would not be time to eat, though.Help! Thank you :-)

It will pass. I think the younger they are when they learn to stand, the longer it will take. For example, my son was about 8 months (or 9?) when he started to stand in the crib. We had disruptions for two days. My daughter, however, didn't start to stand in her crib until around 12 months. We had one nap of disruption.

She likely took a really short nap because she was overly tired. Be sure to adjust waketime if needed to get a good nap in next time. Good luck!

You can roll him over, or you can let him cry. If you roll him over, there is a chance he will go to sleep. There is also a chance he will roll back over and you will be going in over and over again. If you let him cry, he will likely have some rough naps, but he should get over it quickly, especially if he is sleeping at night that way. See this post:

Waking Early From Naps/Won't Fall Asleep For Naps: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/01/waking-early-from-napswont-fall-asleep.html

I am so far beyond frustrated I don't even have words to describe how I feel. I have twin daughters and have used BW since 3 weeks. Had a great schedule going. We are averaging 3 naps of about an hour a piece and eat every 3 hours still at 7 1/2 months However, I have one that goes right down, no fussing and the other who will scream - not cry - scream through the entire nap! Luckily her sister sleeps right through it. Uggh. She has learned to stand up and stands in her crib shaking her crib rail and screaming at nap time. She is definately tired but will not remain lying down. We have tried CIO but I do check every 10-15 minutes or so to make sure she is OK. She has learned that the scream gets our attention and now uses it even when she is not in distress. I am trying to check on her by peaking around the corner so she doesn't know I am there. It seems she is trying to manipulate at this point. However, we did find her with her legs through the crib slats yesterday so we do need to check and make sure that she isn't actually in distress. I need this child to nap! The only thing that keeps her down is to stay and rub her back and I really don't want that. There was a point where she used to just go to sleep like her sister and now this! Any suggestions?

I would go in and firmly say, "It is naptime, you need to go to sleep." Then lay her down and leave the room. Repeat as necessary (I would wait 10-15 minutes as you are doing).

I would also consider that maybe she is ready for a longer waketime. I don't have experience with twins, but I would assume that they are two different babies just as my two kids were very different. Perhaps she needs an extra 5-10 minutes up longer than her sister.

What if you have a baby who doesn't want to practice during waketime, ONLY during naptime? She rolls onto her back almost immediately when I put her down for naps. She does it at an hour, hour 15, hour and half, hour and 45, doesn't matter when I put her down. Ive had to physically hold her down with my hand. Its ridiculous. Then she wakes early almost every time. No matter when I put her down. Anyway she wont practice while shes awake. Any ideas why shes doing this?

Hi! My 8 month old has been waking up during the night for about 2 months now. It started with teething, but now I think it is just out of habit, or knowing I will come in to check on her. We have tried letting her cry, but she gets flipped on her tummy and cannot (or refuses) to flip herself back over and often times she ends up with an arm or leg sticking out of the crib slats. However, since I then go in to get her and flip her it's like now she does it on purpose - the rolling over part. Any ideas?

LReynolds, if she is doing it on purpose, the best thing to do is let her figure it out on her own. You do need to help her if she is stuck in the crib, but I would let her figure out how to do it on her own.

I'm having big problems with naps at the moment. My daughter is almost 5 months old. She almost never wants to go to sleep emmediately after I put her down for her nap, and always wakes up early. She is on a 4 hour schedule sleeps 10 hours at night, for the occasional waking at 05:30. I've started solids - rice 2 times a day - she is a very busy girl always moving and active, she supported her own neck at birth, she likes standing with my support from the age of 2 months. When I put her down for her nap she fights it. It was never like that I used to put her down for a nap and she emmediately went to sleep. I do use a pacifier, she likes sucking her fingers and I'm afraid if I take the pacifier away she's going to suck her thumbs. She is on 3 naps. I also want to know how the "cat nap" works because she is awake for 1.5 hours then has to go down then there is 2.5 hours left, do I keep her awake or lie her down???? I'm very confused? My first baby and the only way I know is Babywise. I never planned on having kids, it just happened (now I can't imagine not having her) and a friend of mine told me about babywise, so this is all I Know. I was the happiest person when I found this blog. "cause other people do it so different. I'm from South-Africa so I hope this gets through. Tanks C-lee

C-lee, she might need a longer waketime length. Usually if they play in their crib before falling asleep it means they need more waketime. They typically play too long and therefore wake early from the next nap. Try adding just 5 minutes of waketime at a time and see if that helps.

I am unsure what you mean by your second question. The catnap is only for the last nap of the day. I would put her down when she needs it, then she would have waketime before eating her final meal. She would eat then go to bed. If she can't handle enough waketime to make that work, then she really needs longer than a catnap for her final nap. I hope that answers what you are asking :)

Thank you for the help. Me and my husband actually did talk about keeping her up a little longer. She dropped her sleeping cues at 3 months, so I basically don't know when to let her nap. But I watched her this week (after the holiday) it looks like her sleeping cue is when she starts rubbing her ears, somtimes - not always.I read the blog that you menyione of Growing Kids.org about the pacifier, and decide to try and get rid of the paci - major sleep disruption. I have another question about gas, She wakes up in the middle of a nap screeming because of a wind that's stuck, and the it takes me about 40min to get it out, and by the time it's ou she is not interested in sleep anymore - too stimulated, any advise? Thank you sooooooo much for your blog. C-lee

My 9-month old is killing me. She has never been a great napper, but she took her naps -- that is up until about 2 weeks ago when she learned how to crawl and stand up, etc. Now she refuses to nap, screams standing up during naptime in her crib (screaming is yet another new trick of hers), and when I do get her down to nap (often by holding her down for an hour plus until she gives up trying to get up) she only naps for 30 minutes. On top of all this, she is now waking up in the middle of the night and refusing to go back to sleep (she slept through the night previously). She stands up in her crib and cries wanting to play. She is clearly exhausted by all this nap fighting as I can see bloodshot eyes and bags under her eyes. Yet she fights during every nap and bedtime. I've tried giving her more waketime, but she still only naps for 30 minutes. What should I do? Is it just a phase? Will it pass?

That is not fun when they drop their nap cues. Kaitlyn dropped hers as a newborn.

For gas, I always used gas drops after each feeding for Brayden. Kaitlyn didn't need it, but Brayden did. Be sure to burp really well before bed, and I love the gas drops. See this post for more on gas:

It is pretty normal. It should pass, and my guess is she is waking in the night because she is overly tired.

Here is what I would do. I would put her in bed, leave. After 10-15 minutes (however long you find is best), go back in, lay her down, and tell her it is time for her to go to sleep. Be very firm, but unemotional. Repeat this as necessary.

Thanks so much for the advice! She has finally returned to her normal self. For a while, I really felt like someone abducted my baby, and I'm left thinking who is this screaming mess. She still only naps for an hour tops, but I'm just grateful she is willing to nap. And as for nighttime, she's pretty good now. I'll put her down with a pacifier and leave the room. Sometimes she'll cry for 10-15 minutes, but most of the time she'll go to sleep quietly on her own. Thank goodness all the early sleep training has not been for nought.

I was helped by this blog when my 4mo old wouldn't STTN. He did great for a month and is now waking 2-3 times a night since he started rolling to his tummy and getting upset cuz he can't get back. we've been practicing rolling during the day and i've tried to let him CIO cuz i think he actually likes sleeping on his tummy but he wakes himself up screaming and can't go back to sleep during the night unless I nurse him. I know he's not hungry but he gets so upset he's wide awake and that's what it takes to help him feel tired again. Any advice? I've read some other posts and it soundslike people just wait it out but it's been 2 weeks and itt didn't take my daughter this long to overcome position changes.

Kristen, when my LO rolled over I used to let her CIO on her tummy just fo 5minutes, and then I would go in and roll her back, she would go to sleep after that sometimes I had to do it 4 - 5 times. But soon she just rolled herself back. Good luck! :-)

I wouldn't do that. That would be falling into "accidental parenting" where you start something to make life easier at the moment and end up creating a habit that is hard to break and you have to work harder to break it than you would have otherwise.

I would keep him in his bed. You could try swaddling if he swaddles, but really the best thing is to let him learn how to roll on his own well so he can get over this as quickly as possible.

Hi, my nearly 10 month old baby boy is not napping! I've read all the posts, but still unsure about what to do with him. About a week ago he learned to crawl, roll over, and stand up in his crib. I think he's just so excited with this new skill. So now when I put him to nap he just pops up. After 7 days of crying, up/down, and me going in to sternly tell him "nigh-nigh" and putting him down, he still fusses for at least 30-60 min. Then he falls asleep slumped over in the sitting position with his head on the bumper. I'm afraid he's going to suffocate so I watch him on the video monitor and go in and put him down (he sleeps on his back). But once I sneak in after 10-15 minutes of sleeping like that and put him down he screams and then he's back at it. Thankfully he's still sleeping thru the night 12-14 hours (once a week he may wake at 5:30 to nurse). I'm just wondering if I should remove the bumper but afraid he'll get caught in slats and also then he will get excited about being able to see everything in his room. I'm just exhausted and have no time during the day b/c he's either crying, or I'm getting him in a more comfortable position, or he's waking after 30 minutes. I just don't think he's getting the rest he needs - he's exhausted, red eyes, etc. I just get him up and wait hours until the next nap. Should I just get him up, and then give him an early nap? I'm still nursing 5 times a day and he's getting his 4th tooth on top now. This is my 3rd baby and although they did the standing in the crib thing too, they figured out how to lay back down on their own in just a few short days. Thanks in advance for your timely advice.

Thirty-Toes, I don't really have a definitive answer for you. I would probably take the bumpers out and then just leave him sitting asleep. I would then hope he would shift into a more comfortable position on his own. With your presence, he most likely is waking up too much.

The tooth might also be contributing to this. Do you give painkiller before the nap? If not, that might help him settle down faster.

Hi,Have been reading this blog and found it really helpful. We sympathise with the feeling of "what has happened to our child"! We have a 17 month old who is having trouble with her nap and nighttime sleep, and she was previously a really good sleeper. She is waking and standing in the cot, and crying for attention. She is able to get down by herself, but doesn't do so, and can stand for the whole 2 hour naptime if we don't intervene. We've tried telling her to lie down and go to sleep, which she does, but then gets up again. And it has become a game to her. So we then tried picking her up and putting her down without speaking to her, but this can carry on for some time too, and sometimes she doesn't go to sleep for ages. She isn't really needing anything, as she stops crying/whimpering as soon as we enter the room, and her cries are not angry or upset, and she hardly needs a hug. She's getting so tired, and we don't know what else to try! Any advice?

It sounds like you are doing everything. One thing to consider is that there is a reason for her doing this. The reason could be as simple as she enjoys your rentry into her room, but there is a reason. The first thing to do is be sure of the reason, then you can address it. Good sleepers don't start not sleeping well for no reason.

Be sure it isn't teething or some other sickness.

If it is that she likes your visits, I would just not visit. I would let her be awake the whole nap if necessary, but if you don't give her the visits, she will stop doing it.

Oh boy! My 9 1/2 month old son has learned to stand in his crib the past 2 weeks. The problem comes with his naps. He is fine at bedtime. For the past two weeks, I would go in after 15 minutes and tell him it's time to sleep not to play and lay him down. At first, it went on for an hour and he'd finally fall asleep, but only for 30 minutes. So this week, he has learned to get back down himself (as far as I can tell). But he just won't sleep. Right now, for instance, I am letting him just sit in his crib. I won't go in. This has been going on for an hour. He's sitting, not standing, but I peak in and he won't lay down...just sits there and whines and cries. Do I just let him be and even if he doesn't fall asleep? Or do I do in and lay him down and tell him to go to sleep? I thought this disruption in naps would end after a few days, but 2 weeks is beginning to wear me down...HELP! I did give him Tylenol before this nap because he seems to be breaking another top tooth, but this hasn't seemed to help in the least. Any guidance or tips would be appreciated. Thanks so much! Your blog is a blessing!

I'm posting here because I was just getting some much needed advise for our current problem - rolling over and waking up... I feel like we've been through most of the major issues on this site. I've been wanting to write this for some time now. I know everyone always thanks you for your site, but I really really have to thank you! We are hard core babywise (CIO, start time from the start, everything) and it worked beautifully for our daughter ( currently 3 and still an amazing sleeper : ) But our second sounds a lot like your Brayden... WOW! Has this child thrown us for a loop! He was collicy, he's not a great nurser, started teething way early, chronic 45 minute naps, the whole shabang! We've tried to be so consistent and this child resists a routine more than any baby I've ever seen. It's been so discouraging to feel like you try so hard and then there are still a lot more "off" days than good ones. And then you see all your non-babywise friends running around free as bird with seemingly happy kids and you think, "Ok why am I doing this again?"I came across the post where your friend shared about finally accepting the 45 minute naps and learning to work around it. I balled my eyes out and I make myself read it once a week : ) It's not just about the naps (my little guys will actually take a 1.5 hour nap in the morning and every once in a while) but just the whole "working with what ya got" mindset. When I really think about it, my little guy is on a routine - it's just not the routine I would have chosen. I stopped worrying about feeding him right away when he woke up and realized he wasn't hungry he just wanted to play : ) Like this morning for example: He woke up an hour earlier than his start time because he flipped over and wanted to play so I went in and turned his little mobile on and he played in his crib for 30 minutes. I don't even consider "waking up early" to be "throwing off the schedule" anymore because I'm so used to. Of course my dream day is 2 1.5 hour naps followed by an hour nap and then he's up until bedtime (and that happens every now and then) but I always have a a backup plan at the 45 minute mark because I don't want to be upset if and when it happens. We just adjust. About half the time he ends of with one good nap and about 3 45 minute naps. He gets the sleep he needs and we don't lose our minds being frusterated at him and at ourselves. He is definitely the happiest 5 month old I know. He wakes up happy, smiles and laughs constantly and sleeps and solid 11 hours every night(sometimes 12!) I'm confident the naps will work themselves out - between teething and starting solids and now rolling we have a lot to deal with, but we will make it. We don't have any babywise friends and so this blog has given me a support system and on a tearful day that is priceless - to feel like you're not alone. When you do babywise and things don't like the book says it should it's easy to feel like a failure, like your not "doing it" right. I can definitely say that I know my kids better than anyone else I know and even though life is really hard right now, it's totally worth it! I am absolutely in love my little guy and we will continue to troubleshoot and adjust and "roll" with each new day. hank you so much.

If you think it is a tooth, I would try to give him the tylenol about 15-20 minutes before the nap. That way it can be working when he goes to bed so the pain won't keep him up past his optimal sleep time.

Other than that, experiment with responses. If he doesn't go to sleep with you going in there, try not going in and see what he does. Also, experiment with how often to go in and what times to go in. Some might do well if you go in after five minutes. Some might be better if you wait 15 or 20 minutes. It is all a troubleshooting game :)

Thanks Ally! That is really sweet of you. I am glad you have come to a good place of acceptance with the way things are. I am always glad Brayden came first; I know I would struggle having the easy baby first followed by the harder ones. Though I am just planning on Baby #3 being harder than Kaitlyn :)

Waiting 30 minutes to eat after waking isn't "off" for BW; see this post if you haven't:

Thank you so much....troubleshooting is definitely the name of the game lately. Today we are trying the approach of extending wake time a "little" later...over the weekend this happened by accident and he napped so well. So we will see how it goes. Thanks for the encouragment and support :)

Thanks for this blog - great stuff! My issue is surrounding my 10 week old daughter who has been rolling (tummy to back) in her sleep at night. My son did this, but would fall back asleep when I rolled him back. My daughter has been doing it off and on in the night, but often is late enough in the night that she realizes she's hungry and doesn't want to go back to sleep until she eats. She has been sleeping through the night for a couple of weeks so I know that its the rolling over at 4am that wakes her up and then she wants to eat. Anyway, she's too young to actually roll herself back to her tummy so that's out for now. Do you think I should just let her cry on her back until she learns to fall back asleep? Just feed her until she learns to roll back over? When my son did this we finally made him cry it out during naps when he ended up on his back and he finally learned to sleep on his back. My fear is that she won't sleep very long even if she does fall back asleep on her back. Thanks for any advice!!

Hi ValCongratulations on your new baby! I know it takes time to get back to these comments which is why I have waited and waited to ask this question thinking it would resolve itself. But alas, it continues on! My son is 11 months old now. At 10 months he learned to crawl, pull-up, roll-over, cruise, everything all within the same week. He's very busy now! We had trouble for just a few days with standing and crying in his crib. That has passed. Now, he just doesn't sleep for one nap a day. It varies which one. He lays in there and plays for an hour and a half before nap time is over or sometimes he will finally fall asleep but I have to get him up shortly after. He used to nap about 9:00 am and 2:30 pm. I have tried pushing back his nap times, giving him tylenol incase he's teething (though I don't see anything coming in). It's been a month and I'm starting to wonder if I should try dropping his morning nap. I KNOW it seems so early! Could he just be one of those babies?!

Jenni, this is a hard call. Hopefully by now, you have this figured out. In the end, you have to decide what you want to do. Do you want to go into her room every night around 4 AM to roll her over until she learns to roll herself? Do you want to train her to be able to sleep on her back (which will mean crying and perhaps poor sleep for a while)?

My guess is that you will see faster results if you train her to sleep on her back. Swaddling might help her sleep better if you go that route. I think she could learn to sleep on her back sooner than she will be phyically capable of rolling herself back over. Good luck!

thesprain, it really is common to have this come up around a year old. I personally would continue to put him down for each nap at the designated time and just see what happens. Try to not stress if he doesn't sleep. Be sure to look at the dropping naps transitions post. Kaitlyn got like this around 14 months old and I wondered about dropping the nap, but in my gut I just didn't think she was ready. She really needed longer waketimes and ended up keeping both naps until 20-21 months old when I finally forced her to drop the morning nap :)

I am writing in regards to my 8 month old daughter. A week ago she was taking two 2 hour naps a day. I would lay her in her crib and she would go right to sleep without any help. This past week she has learned to stand in her crib! Now she REFUSES to take naps. We have tried rocking her, CIO for an hour at a time, shortening her waketime, and none of it seems to work. If she does go to sleep she only sleeps for 25 minutes (which to me is not considered a nap). I am at the end of my rope. Can anyone give me any advice PLEASE?!!? And also I know every baby is different but can you give me a time frame of about how long this lasts?

My suggestions are in this post. The length of time varies on the child and how the situation is handled--meaning if it is the best solution. For Brayden, it was two days of nap disruptions. I think a week can be normal.

Also, be sure there aren't other factors. See the post 5-8 month disruptions.

I live in India. We recently took our 10 month-old son to America for a short visit. We were there for 3 weeks. He has been napping really well for months. He takes two, two hour naps. The day after we returned to India, he started having trouble with his naps. He cries as soon as we lay him down and will cry for 5-30 minutes before falling asleep. Once he falls asleep, he will only sleep for an hour. He is overly tired because he isn't getting enough sleep during his naps. He still sleeps fine at night though. He has been crawling and standing for weeks without disruption. The only reason for the nap disruptions that I can come up with would be the excessive noise and heat here. Both of these factors cannot be changed. However, he was doing fine with the noise and heat before we left for America. I'm not sure what to do to help him.

It's really nice to know that I'm not the only one who's wondering where my great little sleeper disappeared to?! I've spent 2 hours reading through the posts and comments and it's been quite helpful but I wonder if you have any suggestions for us with our almost 7 month old daughter. She's been a BW kid since birth and has done wonderfully, always a great sleeper. Then last week she started to wake up in the middle of the night. Sometimes she'll whine, but it's mostly just talking to herself for upwards of 45 minutes before she'll fall back asleep (and now she's not waking for her wake-time on her own because she's still tired!). Now it's continued into naps. She'll lay in her crib and roll around and talk to herself for sometimes an hour, I know she's tired, but won't go to sleep. Since this has started I've also stopped swaddling her since she'd break out and the blanket was her new toy. I'm at my whits end and she's a tired girl all day because she spends much of her nap awake in the crib. I also think she's ready for a 4 hour schedule as far as eating goes, but I'm not sure she can go that long between naps (as I've been experimenting, she's falling asleep in her car seat on errands before her next feeding time). It feels like we're back to sleep training all over again!Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Hello-I have an 11 month old boy here who just LOVES to stand in his crib. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to sit back down. Naps are not the issue, its nighttime. He's been a great sleeper, sleeping from 8pm-7:30am on the dot.

Last week he had a fever for a couple of days, so we were giving him motrin for that, plus we're thinking that teething was causing the fever. Anyway, BW says teething should not last long, so I'm hardpressed to say he is still teething, however, he has been waking up at random hours-screaming. For 2 or 3 nights I ended up feeding him because it was the ONLY thing that settled him (after trying the swing and going for a walk outside).I just reread some parts of Babywise Book Two discussing baby fatigue. I'm worried that's what is going on, however he is napping just fine- once at 9:30-11:30, and again around 2:30/3 to 4:30/5.

It's me again. OK so I have a problem. Whenever my son goes down for a nap he wakes 20 mins later and I just go in a pick him up. My husband told me he has observed this is why he has been crying. So how do I just let him cry and for how long. I have read in some of the post to just peep in every ten mins or so. Help!

I also forget he has learned how to roll from his back to tummy and tummy to back. If this wasn't enough he has also learned how to push himself back when on his tummy and learned he can now go places. He is also a few days shy of 7 months.

Hi! I have a new question for you. My 5 month old has been doing amazing. She had been sleeping from 8-8 for the past couple of weeks without waking up, eating well and actually taking naps now that she's on a four-hour schedule. She started sitting up a little bit on her own this week and she was also sick. The problem is that she has been waking up 6-10 times at night. Sometimes she's screaming, sometimes she's just talking and wanting to play, sometimes she just wants her pacifier...but nothing is keeping her asleep like it used to be?

She has had no problems with this disrupting her naps at all, so I'm not sure what's going on. She sticks to a good combo routine of 3.5 -4 hrs, she has a solid nighttime and nap routine..but to no avail. Please help! We feel like we have a newborn again! :)

Mona Lisa, There are lots of possibilities. I would suggest you read the CIO posts for ideas on what to do about this. Are you sure he is actually falling asleep? Or is he just sitting in there quietly for 20 minutes?

Hi! I have a new question for you! My daughter is 22 weeks old and has been sleeping through the night for weeks now. Around 16 weeks she learned how to roll from her tummy to back. She is a tummy sleeper and does not want to be on her back when she sleeps. She wasn't able to roll back to tummy at that point so I initially would help her. I started working with her during her wake time to teach her how to roll from back to tummy and about two weeks ago she started getting it. When she is doing wake time on a blanket on the floor she rolls all around. For whatever reason, in her bed she will not roll back over. She acts as if she doesn't know how to but I know she does. She screams and screams until I either get her up or roll her back over. I am more hesitant to let her scream b/c I have a 22 month old son that I don't want disrupted. But, the rolling is happening all throughout the night and during every nap and I am at my wits end! I feel like we are back in the first month! I don't know what to do. Should I just start letting her cry regardless of whether it's nap time or in the middle of night and be consistent with it? I have let her cry numerous times and she never falls back to sleep. THe only thing is, I have not been consistent. Sometimes I let her cry and sometimes I roll her over. I don't know what to do!! Please help! Thank you!

FloridaMom, McKenna would be like that sometimes. She knew how to roll on her own, but for whatever reason, in her bed it was not possible :)

I think it is up to you to decide what to do, but whatever you do, be consistent about it. She might get on her own as she gets older and is just more able to do it naturally. She also might get used to you coming in and enjoy that.

If you decide to go the crying route, you could do some white noise for your son so you don't have to worry about it waking him up. Good luck!

Hi! Please help! I'm hoping to get some advice on my 10 month old. He has always been an excellent sleeper. However, for almost the past two weeks he just will *not* nap!! I've tried increasing & decreasing waketime. It seems to make no difference. About a week ago he learned to stand & has also cut another tooth (which doesn't seem to have been bothering him at all). At first I thought maybe just learning to stand was the culprit, but a week & 1/2 later & it's still not better! He's not crying or anything...just playing in his crib. I've tried going in & telling him that it's naptime, to lay down, etc. Doesn't help. I've tried NOT going in & just letting him work it out on his own...doesn't help. I sat in there one day & every time he tried to sit up/pop his little head up, I would lay him back down & say "lay down". This went on over & over & over (& over & over!!!!) for a good 1/2 hour & he *still* would not lay down. He gets plenty of practice, so I don't think that's the problem. He's gone from taking two 2hr naps every day (& longer if I'd let him!) to MAYBE sleeping a *total* of 1.5 to 2 hrs (or less!!!) which is not NEARLY enough for him. Maybe it's a wonder week?? Maybe he's going to be walking soon...I don't know! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Hi Val - please help. I can't seem to solve this one.LO is 11.5 months (about 2 weeks younger than M0.cKenna) and she was a good napper till 3 weeks ago (teething and sitting up in bed) now all of that is gone but she still fails to fall asleep for 2nd and final nap. I have adjusted wake time in all directions with small increments and large increments and it does not seem to help. She simply doesn't fall asleep for sometimes an hour, then maybe naps for 45min.Her 1st wake session is 1:40min and then naps >1h (I wake her as I think she shouldn't sleep too long here, it will affect the next nap). Then she use to be awake for 2.5h and nap fine for 1.5h+ but now I don't know anymore. Surely she can't be dropping the 2nd nap <1 year old? (Her night sleep is just under 12 hours.thank you so much!

This is what I would do. I would put him down at nap time, then walk away. It sounds like he isn't upset at all. Just let him be and before too long he should go back to napping. It sounds like you have tried to see if there is something you can do, and since he isn't responding, I would just not stress.

Do check out the "naps: troubleshooting--revised and updated" post to be sure you checked it all.

In addition, your child is older so I would say to also see the post "Dropping naps: Transition time" (something like that. I think if you enter that in my google search box, the right one should come up).

Hi there. We have similar problem. Our 8,5 months girl haa been doing BW since birth and is doing great. She is sleeping great, whole night since she was 2,5 onths. She has mostla 3 naps (1,5-2 hours) a day, last one is just 45 minutes. She eats 4 times breastfeedind + 3 time solids.But she has started to crawl since few days ago and than our problem begun. She doesn't want to go to sleep during the day. She spins, crawls in her bed, but she is very tired and we have a "fight"! What to do?!

Thank you so much for your answer! Things have started to improve on naps! We realised that maybe we made a mistake when we basically were "helping" her to fall a sleep by hushing her, singing and so on before nap. So we reduced it and things have improved. But now we started to experience problems durring night! Like I mentioned before she was sleeping great durring nights (since she was 2,5 months) but now in last few weaks problems begun. She firstly started to get up durring nights because she got stuck in some strange position in her sleep. But now all of a sudden she would wake up after only half an hour of sleep nad we would than have 1-3 hours of fights, CIO, and who nows what. But we are confused as to what is causing this? *ps I don't know if this is right place for this comment...

I found your blog months ago, but this is my first time posting any question. My son is 9.5 months old and we started Babywise on day 15 after he was born. He was sleeping 12 hours a night by 11 weeks, and has always napped well.

Since 4.5-5 months old, he transitioned on his own to sleeping from 6:45/7PM through to 6:30 AM, with naps from 9-11AM and 1-3:30PM. He eats fabulously, nursing first thing in the morning and last thing at night, and eating three meals of solids with us. He also has a bottle just before morning and afternoon naps to keep his liquids up.

THEN...

The week he turned 8 months old coincided with the beginning of a huge 2-week international convention we attended, where he had to nap in his stroller when he could and his bedtimes were several hours later than usual. Then for 2 weeks we had a number of guests in our home that also threw off our normally quiet and stable routine. So for 4 weeks he had considerable disruption.

During the big convention, he also learned to crawl and to pull himself up.

For the past two weeks, I've been working with him daily to try and get his naps and nighttimes back. Nighttimes just took a few days. Naps don't seem to be making any progress. I've ruled out hunger, he's not teething, and he's not sick.

If he takes his morning nap (usually now just lasts an hour or 50 min) he won't take his afternoon nap, and vice versa. But he's too tired in the mornings to push his waketime later to have just one long midday nap.

I tried CIO for several days. But after the first few days he doesn't CIO anymore, he just sits/stands/crawls/plays/sings/babbles for the entire 2-3 hours that he should have been sleeping. (And he's totally capable of sitting back down after standing... he goes up and down all the time.)

I've also tried the BW "fatigued baby" advice, of just rocking him to sleep and holding him through a nap or two in hopes of getting him rested so he can go back to sleeping on his own. No luck.

He doesn't seem particularly grumpy - he's generally a sweet-tempered child in the first place, but I know he's TIRED. And I'm SO VERY ready to find a solution so that he can get both naps back...

My 3.5 month old is having trouble napping. She usually takes 2-2.5 hour naps but now is down to just 1 hour. She wakes up and fusses for a couple of minutes and then just lays in her crib and plays with her hands. She laughs, coos, talks, etc. I peeked in on her and she had both hands out in front of her, wiggling her fingers and opening and closing her hands and just staring at them. She does this until the next feeding. Could discovering hands be a new "skill" that is talked about like rolling, crawling, etc. By the way, we do swaddle her and have tried several different swaddle blankets and she comes out of all of them. She is strong! She has been sleeping fine with one or two arms out so I don't know that we will be able to keep her arms in anymore. Since she is not crying and appears to be happy should I just leave her and wait for this to pass? Anything different I should be doing? Thanks.

My 6.5 month old started crawling a week ago and now is standing. I never expected this so early. She is having a tough time at naps and just started having trouble around 10pm in the evenings. Bedtime is 7/730 but she has just started waking at 10. I know she is just so tired from the interrupted naps during the day. Is it just going to have to be a 'wait it out' thing too? I normally let her cry 10-20 mins, console and put her back down. I do this until I give in and then end up rocking her to sleep or getting her up if its a disrupted nap time. Thanks!

Yes, a wait it out thing. I would be sure to give her lots of time standing during playtime. I might even go in her room with her during playtime and let her play in the crib at least once a day to get the novelty all out of her system.

I love your articles and all your advice. Since day one I have found every solution I needed for my LO and for ( months I've never needed to ask for personal help. Thank you.Now, for the last month (my LO is 10 mo.) She has been waking 30-40 minutes into her nap and standing at her crib crying. She sleeps through the night 8pm - 8:30 or 9am, only waking to nurse at 5:30am. I have tried leaving her to CIO after she wakes from naps but she cries all the way until it is time to eat again. How can I get her to nap longer than 30 minutes. She takes three naps a day, each approx. 30-45 minutes. She goes down rather easy, maybe cries 1 to 5 minutes. I tried putting her down atdifferent times 10am, 10:30am, and 11am, with the goal of trouble shooting under or over tired. It doesn't seem to matter when I put her down she just wakes up 30 minutes in and stands up and cries. How can I extend her nap time? She is yawning and rubbing eyes so I know she needs longer nap.

I have the same exact question as the very last Comment on May 8th from Unknown!! My 8 month old just started with this exact same issue....started crawling a week ago, now stands in the crib too....she goes to sleep pretty easily after some playing by herself in there but then wakes 35-50 minutes and screams uncontrollably for 15 minutes until I come in there and get her out because she will not go back to sleep. She is yawning and rubbing eyes and all that after the nap and I know she is tired. She sleeps through the night 7:00pm-7:00 or 7:30am but naps are a mess. I'm on a 4 hour feeding scheduled. I've tried different times for naps too (more or less waketime) and nothing seems to help! Can you help??

Natalie, I was the unknown person from May...sorry I must not be logged in. I eventually got help from my pediatrician and she said a couple things. One, it will pass because the new activities of crawling and standing are interrupting the sleep. Be patient. She also suggested leaving her in her crib for the desired amount of nap time. So, I would leave her in there for at least an hour no matter when she woke up if she woke up crying. Eventually she realized mommy was not coming to get her and she would fall back asleep. Then eventually she stopped waking completely. I also began taking her out more and tiring her before her morning nap at the park and play dates. On the days we are very active she sleeps much better during nap time. Good luck and I hope you get some feedback here.

HELP!! my little guy is 36 weeks old. He has been army crawling for a while and just recently learned to crawl on all fours. He began pulling up few weeks ago but just realized he can do it in his crib. His naps have not been interrupted by this but his nighttime sleep has. He is waking usually only once but at any time of the night from 9pm to 4 am crawling around & pulling up. Even though he can get back into sleeping position he won't go to sleep and is screaming after 20 min of "playing". He is a spirited baby and has done wonderfully on baby wise although he has never really been a CIO because once crying he will go into a screaming fit. The only way I can get him back to sleep now is to give him a small bottle! I never did this before if he ever woke at night he would just go right back to sleep. I don't know what else to do except pray for it to pass lol! Any advice?

Jen, do lots of practice in the day. I would stop doing the bottle for getting him to go back to sleep. If he won't fall asleep on his own if left alone, go in and re-do a short version of a bedtime routine (like pick him up, sing to him, and tuck him in again) so he understands it is still sleep time.